The use of flexible fabric for foundation forms renders it possible to produce and maintain a very level building foundation, and to produce such a foundation on sloping and/or underlying terrain. The flexible forms permit a foundation to conform to the underlying surface contour of ground matter, when such ground matter is somewhat irregular.
The use of flexible fabric forms are known in the building construction art as disclosed by R. Fearn in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,321. The patentee sets forth a method of preparing a sub-wall foundation using a pair of separate rigid forms connected at their bottom end by a fabric sling. A concrete is used to fill the combined fabric and rigid form to the extent that, when hardened, a building structure is readied with a sub-wall foundation situated on ground surface. The patent further discloses the use of a vertical reinforcement rod partially situated in the fabric form and surrounded by concrete.
In one embodiment to the R. Fearn patent, a concrete foundation is seen to extend from ground surface upward to abut a floor assembly, thus, producing an exterior or perimeter sub-wall. However, the patented devices are not revealing or suggestive of an assembly wherein a metal support pier, tubular stanchion, or seismic cradle upright is partially embedded in a fabric container and held with a binder or cementitious material.
Cognizant of the significant need in the building construction industry for a reliably sturdy, relatively inexpensive, and quickly assembled ground surface foundation, the inventors have now discovered a new and improved apparatus that achieves such purposes.
As is well known in the art, mobile homes and modular housing units contain longitudinal support beams or joists as part of their undercarriage structure. By means of support piers, such buildings are typically levelled on site by diversely raising or lowering the support piers. The assembly of the fabric container, hardened cementitious material, and selected upright support of the present invention, is adapted as a ground surface foundation that completely maintains the supporting beams in a levelled position after the original and temporary support piers have been removed.
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method for casting cementitious or concrete foundations by using a flexible fabric container, also referred to as a geo-textile bag, to hold and form the cementitious slurry wherein the bottom part of a support pier, tubular stanchion, or upright to a seismic cradle is embedded in the slurry while the top part of the pier, tubular stanchion, or upright is engaged with the floor beam of the dwelling's underside structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus and method, as set forth in the preceding general object, wherein multiple support piers, tubular stanchions, or seismic cradle uprights may be arranged in series within a single fabric container.
In yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method, as set forth in the two preceding objects, wherein the flexible fabric container, itself, is recessed from three to six inches below ground surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method of setting cast-in-place building foundations that exhibit high structural integrity, is relatively inexpensive to perform, and display a high degree of resistance to ground tremors and heavy winds.
Several preferred embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and are described in detail without attempting to show all of the various forms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be reflected in the drawings and concomitant written description.